Ini Billie, Uyo
The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Umo Eno has denied claims that his close relationship with the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio was a sign that he would soon dump the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), for All Progressives Congress (APC) party.
Eno who said he respects Akpabio as the Senate President and was collaborating with him to attract development to Akwa Ibom, added that he did not have plans to leave the PDP.
Speaking at the weekend in Uyo during a media conversation as part of activities to mark the 37-anniversary celebration of Akwa Ibom State at the weekend, Eno advised the people to learn how to differentiate party issues from governance issues.
According to him, Akwa Ibom was blessed to have the senate president as the number three citizen of the country, noting that he was going to take advantage of that for the benefit of the state.
Besides, the governor explained that no party has the monopoly of causing trouble, noting such trouble would not produce any good result. He added that he was not a politician who would insult others as he has tremendous respect for Akpabio.
“The first thing we get from building this relationship is the peace we enjoy. Maybe that’s why some people feel that I am neither here nor there. I am a PDP person working for PDP, and as a state, we will continue to support the party. But we must differentiate between the party issues and governance issues.
“We are going for election now, and I am working for my party, the PDP and we are campaigning, and we will win. Some people have accused me of my body language. I don’t have a body language, you misread me. There is no body language. I am working for the PDP, and we have shown the people that we can be trusted.
“There is no local government that we are not doing something in this state, and there is no comparison, you can’t. I want voters to be the ones to decide; compare what is done to what you are seeing and look at what is left.
“I am not raised to be the kind of politician that makes a lot of noise, that go about insulting people and starts a fight. If we start that, let us not forget that the other party has people who can make that trouble and the state becomes ungovernable and we have issues everywhere.
“You must know the nature of the kind of leader you have elected. By the grace of God, if I put my mind to doing anything, I achieve it. But I am not the kind of leader that makes noise, I am not given to that noise.
“Let’s continue to maintain a cordial relationship, let’s continue to respect the people that God has put in charge of us. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the Senate President, and I will continue to do so. That does not mean that we don’t disagree when it comes to party issues.
“The truth is, it does not matter the party, to be the number three citizen in the country is not something you just take for granted. We are blessed as a people and I can tell you that a day will come and I will tell you what this collaboration is doing for us. That is why we collaborate with people,” he stated.